The Times. A Bare Metal Merc. SEMA. Stuff.

It's been pretty exciting around the Studio lately... really.

Let's start with the recent stuff, and then we'll Tarrantino the whole thing, and travel backwards in time, and who knows... either we'll tie it all up neatly, or leave you scratching your head an thinking "what the heck just happened here?". To remain honest here, I'm willing to bet it all just doesn't matter, because we're gonna show you some killer stuff, throw some deals your way, and then set you free to enjoy your day as you see fit.

That settled, let's start with Monday. The mighty Merc project nailed a spot on the NY Times blog:

...which is a nice layer of frosting on the week, indeed. You see, the Merc has been in-progress for some time, being constructed by our good pal Zane and his crew over at Cotati Speed Shop. It was decided to drag the mean machine to SEMA, and we did it in style, bolting on a set of raw-milled HRE wheels, and setting up shop in the Ford display... just because.

The week grew better with the release of the Gold Rush Rally DVD, a pet project of the Merc's owner, and to say that it's outstanding would be an extreme understatement... take a quick peek for yourself:

You can pre-order this amazing cinematic barnstormer here: GR2KX.com

Moving along, we had a couple of other rides at SEMA, from the C2ZR1:

... and the Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour Car:

... among other stuff, and, well, here's hoping you checked them out if you were there.

Let's see... Oh... how about this:

Are you a subscriber to our e-Newsletter yet? No? You'll want to be. You see, from now until the 15th of December, we're going to throw some SERIOUS deals out there for you to make Holiday shopping a breeze. Hell, we're even going to give a ton of stuff away. All you need is a subscription to the Newsletter (you can do that in a few easy steps HERE), and the ability to read and click some links. It'll be that easy. Win art, prints, skate decks, books... and get screaming deals on all of the above, too. We're givers.

Poke in soon for the new site, more art, and who the Hell knows what else. More soon...

When the Rubber Hits the Road

While it certainly sounds like the event which might signal the close of a truck stop tryst (We apologize for that. Brian apparently found the good coffee again –Ed.), but we’re more interested (for the time being) about the 2010 Amsoil/Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour car leaving the shop, and hitting the wide open spaces, highways, side streets and assorted roadside tourist traps that make our country great.

The Shadow Rods-based hauler made a grand entrance on May 16th at Southern Rods in Greer, South Carolina, and we’re stoked all over again! Built by our pal (and Hall of Famer, no less) Zane Cullen over at Cotati Speed Shop in Santa Rosa, it’s a killer combination of traditional style, reverence to the Bay Area’s storied hot rod past, and modern reliability and power. The car looks incredible with a track nose, hood blister, and so much of that trademark Cotati Speed Shop attention to detail that we can’t begin to list it all here…

You can keep up with the Tour Car  on the official blog HERE, and see where Jerry is headed, where he’s been, and where you can join in the fun, too! And if you can, head on out and join the fun!


…and hey…. if I can be of use to design YOUR next ride, website, whatever… hit me up on the site! www.problemchildkustoms.com

Sick Seconds Starting to Look Good

...and getting closer to the street, literally and figuratively.

The gang at ProRides, along with a dedicated team of close friends have been working diligently to get the '69 Camaro completed and ready for its show car circuit tour and also testing on the track. It is currently in Steve's garage and the gang has been working on it every night after work. The goal is to finish the car in April and start testing... We are even thinking about driving it on a leg of the Power Tour to test the street driving of the Camaro. Not bad for a six-second capable ride...

Bowler Transmissions wants to have the car in their booth at some Goodguys shows in the coming year, and Denny will also be working with Goodguys on making exhibition runs at their Indy event. Feel free to let Denny know if the car is needed for anything else during the entire season, as we'd all love to see the car not only running on the street and track, but also acting as an ambassador for the hobby and industry as a whole.

The car should be going to paint at the beginning of February, and look for many more pics to follow. We truly cannot wait to share some finished shots of the car. And check out the mounting of the Chiseled Performance intercooler, Be Cool radiator, B&M tranny cooler, ProCharger, and that fuel tank in the front.....not much room left!

...and if you're not yet familiar with the project, here's the rendering...

...and you can see the first updates, like machining the block to save weight, and building the chassis right here on the site! Look for more updates soon!